Bharati Dutt witnessed life-changing events that shaped India on the threshold of freedom. Her memories are an account of how ordinary Indians saw India change.
Hurling petrol bombs and stones, Gorkhaland supporters on Thursday fought pitched battles with police, who broke up protests, bursting teargas shells and baton-charging violent crowds, plunging Darjeeling hills into deeper turmoil.
Six serials blasts rocked the venue of Narendra Modi's rally in Patna minutes before he arrived there to address the gathering while another crude bomb exploded at the railway station, leaving five dead and over a fifty injured.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 16 images
As the government came under attack from the Opposition during the debate on the recent communal riots in the national capital that have claimed over 50 lives, the BJP members alleged that the violence was a pre-planned conspiracy and the home minister and authorities took pro-active steps to control the situation.
Markets, banks, business establishments and educational institutions were closed and transport services were suspended.
The man, named as Micah Xavier Johnson, a 25-year-old Army reservist, was responsible for the deadliest attacks on law enforcers in America since 9/11 - shooting 12, killing 5.
Modi also berated the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine in Bihar, calling it an alliance of "double-double yuvraj" (two crown princes) whose sole concern was to protect their "respective thrones".
Border Security Force has claimed that at least one militant have been injured or killed.
Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister in 2004 because of strong opposition from her son Rahul Gandhi who was afraid she would be killed like his father and grandmother if she accepted the post, former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh claimed.
The top court said that every month on 3-4 Saturdays, the advocates are on strike on one pretext or the other and had the lawyers worked on those days, it would have achieved the ultimate goal of speedy justice, which is now a fundamental right.
Here are some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by...
Dallas police say the gunman staged a furious ambush-style attack in Dallas at a rally held to protest this week's fatal shooting of two black men by police in other states.
As means of transport or metaphor, the romance of trains is unmistakable in Hindi cinema.
Addressing a massive public rally to celebrate the signing of the accord on January 27 that is expected to bring lasting peace to the troubled state, Modi said now the time was to work together for peace and development of the North-East.
This is the third time the temple is opening after the court verdict, though no girl or woman in the previously banned age group could offer prayers so far following stiff resistance by devotees and activists, opposing any change in the temple traditions. The apex court on September 28 lifted the age-old ban on entry of girls and women in the 10-50 age group.
A bandh called by various organisations in protest against the killing of a 14-year-old girl Purnima Rajak in a bomb blast on Tuesday evening, paralysed life in Dibrugarh city as well as the entire district on Thursday.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
Two suicide bombers rammed into the All Saints Church in the Kohati Gate area of Peshawar, Pakistan, when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on his way to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.
By the time the police force could move any closer to the five-feet-high wall fencing the land, the encroachers had started firing. Within seconds it was raining bullets and the encroachers had positioned themselves at the trees in the enclosed area.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 14 images.
In this series, Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Tennis titans Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday and visited the site of a deadly Bangkok bomb blast.
The swollen Seine receded on Sunday, but between flood damages, strikes and terror fears, France was firmly stuck in the doldrums just five days before the Euro football tournament. Thick grey clouds hung over Paris as the muddy Seine slowly inched back from a three-decade high that saw it burst its banks in places, forcing the Louvre and Orsay museums to shut their doors to evacuate priceless works. But while crowds thronged to photograph the river -- Paris's star attraction this weekend -- residents in nearby towns picked through their devastated homes, with insurers estimating damages of at least 600 million euros ($681 million). Several towns remained on alert after the floods left four people dead in the Paris region this week, and over 11,000 homes were without electricity. In Paris several metro stations remained shut as a precaution.
'For Pakistan, the comfortable old calculations and certainties are no longer valid.' 'Strikes on Indian targets now carry a high risk of retaliation and escalation,' notes Ajai Shukla.
The ninth edition of the Global Peace Index, which ranks the nations of the world according to their level of peacefulness, has ranked Syria as the most dangerous country in the world.
Rediff.com takes a look at the great moments on Twitter in 2015, from single Tweets that captured our imagination to hashtags that sparked global conversations.
The EC has deployed 580 companies of central forces to man over 98 per cent of the polling booths in these constituencies to ensure free and fair polling.
How far did the existing air of permissiveness may have contributed to those like the Indian Mujahideen targeting Tamil Nadu for setting up base, is a question that the state's law and order machinery would have to ask itself, and stall them on the track and for good, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Pakistan on Saturday accused the US of deliberately trying to sabotage its peace process with militants by carrying out the drone attack that killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, saying it would review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and cooperation.
A grieving Pakistan's policy shift towards the Taliban has comes at a great cost, says Shahzad Raza.
'There is a clear plan being followed by the Indian government.' With these attacks, we are trying to dispel the myth that the Pakistani army can cause problems.'
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
Against the backdrop of denial of permission for his rally in Varanasi, Narendra Modi on Thursday said that he and the Bharatiya Janata Party were being "troubled" by the Election Commission and wanted the poll body to "answer".
Khadim Hussain Rizvi is now gone. But the mass appeal of fundamentalism among Pakistan's burgeoning, young, illiterate, unemployed and angry population isn't, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The surrendered Naxal said such arguments and counter-arguments led to internal dispute. "I felt suffocated and a sense of remorse started setting in."
Saudi Arabia on Sunday came under attack globally a day after it carried out mass execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a vocal critic of the government and the Saudi monarchy.
At least 15 persons were killed and 80 others injured when Taliban suicide attackers targeted two packed churches during mass on Sunday in Pakistan's biggest Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, the capital of Punjab.
Top quotes from Jayanthi Natarajan's press conference
